A Place To Rest
by NNWest
Summary: The Doctor and Rose visit Quiescia. Warning: Spoilers for Lawrence Miles' BBC novel Alien Bodies. 9th Doctor, Rose, Jack.


_TITLE: A Place to Rest_

_AUTHOR: NNWest_

_DISCLAIMER: Sadly, none of them are mine...but I like playing with them. And writing about them is the only way to get them out of my head._

_AN: Great thanks to wonderful betas WMR and Gillian Taylor. Special thanks to WMR without whom this fic would have been 1300 words instead of 8500._

* * *

The pebble's jagged edges nipped lightly at the Doctor's skin as he absently worried it between his fingers, rolling it this way and that, and silently regarding the rough, circular depression before him. 

Crouched at its edge, he stared into it, lost in his thoughts. He hadn't been sure whether to expect it to still be here or not. So many things had changed with the War; fleetingly he'd thought that this might have as well. But it was here, the crater standing testament to the inevitable.

He let the small stone drop and dusted his hands when a muffled sound near the TARDIS alerted him that Rose had emerged.

oOoOoOo

The cerulean rock crunched under her trainer as she stepped from the TARDIS, but the sound didn't carry. As she took a few steps, Rose realised it was the atmosphere itself that seemed to deaden any noise immediately, giving the place not quite an oppressive, but somewhat funereal, feel. Appropriate, considering their purpose here.

The unyielding edges of the small silver casket dug into her as she clutched it tightly to her chest. She cast an uninterested eye over the craggy blue landscape, spotting the Doctor's dark silhouette crouched several yards away. She said nothing, but at the sound of her approach, his haunted gaze lifted to meet hers. She was struck by how tired he looked. Worn down and used up. She knew she looked the same.

As she drew near, Rose found he'd been contemplating a wide, round hole in the ground. When she stopped beside him, he stood. "Here," the Doctor stated. "I'd like him to be here."

This morning she'd known the time had come. Her tears spent. The sight of the silvered chest no longer threatened to tear open her grieving heart. The sharp, angular edges of her pain, her loss--their loss--knocked smooth, leaving only the hard, dull ache behind. She was ready now. Ready to let him go. Ready to bury Jack.

oOoOoOo

They'd both lost a friend, a lover. A third of the soul they shared was gone. He knew she felt the loss as keenly as he did, perhaps more. Though none were quite like Jack, he had said goodbye to many friends in his life, sorrow his long acquaintance. As a result, he had not wanted to rush her. The Doctor had given her time to mourn, to accept the loss, knowing she would tell him when the time was right.

He knew even before Rose had told him of her decision. The set of her jaw, the grim look of determination in her eyes more telling than words ever could be. He'd nodded and set the coordinates without a word.

Now standing here, watching her, he wondered if her resolve was going to fail.

"Why here?" she finally asked.

He didn't answer. There were lots of things he could tell her, lots of things that would appease her: Quiescia, the outskirts of human-explored space. The furthest mankind would ever travel. But none of them would be the real reason.

"I mean..." He watched her sweep a forlorn glance toward the horizon. "I jus' don't like leaving him here alone." The final words nearly unintelligible as her voice cracked and her eyes filled with renewed tears.

"Oh, Rose." He gathered her into his arms, the box hard between them, pressing a kiss into her hair, murmuring gently. "I can't explain, but you have to trust me that he won't be alone here." And he couldn't, not to her, not now. Couldn't tell her that the crater at her feet was his own final resting place. A grave he shared with the Earth's first space traveller. Not now, not when she'd lost Jack, the Doctor couldn't bear to remind her that she might lose him too someday.

Maybe he was being selfish, but Rose had left it up to him. He'd asked gently if there was somewhere she wanted to take Jack, Earth perhaps. She had shaken her head, silently asking him to decide.

His decision had been easy. When Chancellor Dolan had laid the box in Rose's hands with his condolences and the solemn vow that Captain Jack Harkness' bravery would never be forgotten by the people of Parmenides, the Doctor had know instantly where he wanted Jack buried. There was no one else to ask. Rose and he were Jack's only family. His only true home with them.

As a Time Lord, he'd never been afforded the belief in any sort of afterlife. In the beliefs of Gallifrey, the only afterlife a Time Lord could expect was that at death, true death, one's life experiences and memories would be transferred to the Matrix. Long ago the decision to lead the life he had, away from his people and his planet, had sobered him to the fact that that might not even be available to him. Gallifrey's destruction had stripped away every hope.

But now, somehow, he was eased in the knowledge that the man he trusted and loved would be with him, if no longer in life, but ultimately in death.

He clung to her until her sobs faded once more, holding her tight until she eventually wriggled slightly in his embrace. The Doctor released her, and she met his gaze, her eyes still shining. He brought his hands up and cupped her face, smoothing away the tracks her tears had marked on her cheeks and searching her for signs that perhaps this was not yet the time.

oOoOoOo

After a moment, he asked, "You ready for this, then? Doesn't have to be today if you don't want to." It didn't, she knew, but if not now, it would still be left to do. No, now. She had to take this step for both of them, for all of them.

"No." She steeled herself, pulling herself straighter and tucking back a stray wisp of hair. She pressed a hand against his on her face, working her fingertips between his fingers to give his hand a light squeeze. "I do trust you." And they shared a brief, faint smile.

"All right," he said. With a brush of his lips to hers he turned his attention back to the crater.

Rose looked on in silence as he prepared the place. It didn't take long. The grave didn't have to be large. Or deep. The harsh, barren vista around them told her that there was nothing here to disturb it. When the Doctor finished, he looked back to extend a hand to her. She stepped forward and took it in hers for a second.

An infinite sadness settled upon his features as he touched the silver casket she cradled with his free hand. Finally, with a sighing breath, she drew away from him to place it in the ground, running her fingers over its delicately engraved surface one last time before reaching out to sweep soil into the hole and cover the shining box at last.

Her hand trembled a little as she smoothed the last handful of dirt into place. "'Bye, Jack. I love you." Her whisper quavered and the Doctor's hand settled over hers as if to add his strength to hers.

A few moments had passed, and the Doctor lifted her hand from the grave to hold it between his. He turned it to softly brush the blue dust from her palm. "It's done."

"Yeah," she breathed as they stood. Hand in hand they walked back to the TARDIS. With a final glance back and silent farewell, Rose stepped over the threshold.

And, as if assenting to the quiescent aura of the place, the time ship faded from the planet's surface with a muffled groan.

oOoOoOo

Weeks later the message caught up with them in the vortex. Time-stamped less than half a day after they left Parmenides, it contained two words.

Return immediately.

oOoOoOo

Word that the TARDIS had arrived on Parmenides reached Chancellor Dolan only minutes after he had transmitted the summons. He dismissed the aide with instructions to have the Doctor and the Lady Rose escorted to the medical facility. He would meet them there.

He let out a long, wearied sigh and hurried into the corridor. It had been far too long since he last rested and the duties he'd been called on to perform this day weighed on him. The heaviest had been delivering Captain Harkness' effects into the hands of his companions, the ones who had risked their own lives, and lost their friend in the process, to save those of his people. But there was one more thing he had to do before he could allow himself a respite. Dolan was now rushing to bring them happy news. He only hoped it remained that way. That last report from Jer was not what he would consider encouraging.

oOoOoOo

The door flew open, startling Rose and admitting the Chancellor in a flurry of sombre-toned robes. He looked the same as she remembered--exhausted, frayed at the edges, but a near-planetary crisis will do that to you--and she realised that he hadn't changed. For him it was the still the same day. It was a surreal feeling as she thought about everything she and the Doctor had been through in the weeks that had passed for them. For one, they'd said goodbye to, buried, Jack. Her heart ached at the thought.

At the grey-haired man's entrance, the Doctor shoved himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against. "Dolan. What is this? Why the urgent call?" Rose heard the concern, and the hint of pain, that coloured his questions. They'd just averted wide-scale disaster on this world. Was there something they had missed?

Rose let out a shaking breath. Coming back to Parmenides was proving to be harder than she thought it would be. And seeing Chancellor Dolan again had brought her carefully-contained grief surging to the forefront once again as she remembered his steady hands as they placed the silver casket into her trembling ones, remembered the compassion in his aged emerald eyes as he spoke of Jack's heroism.

She knew that the Doctor didn't want to be back here either. Little things in his manner, subtle indicators written in the lines of his body, had betrayed his feelings. But, more so, they had revealed his concern for her. Any casual observer probably wouldn't have seen them, but he couldn't hide them from her. As they waited for Dolan, she'd felt his eyes upon her again. He'd been surreptitiously watching her from the moment he'd deciphered the return request, trying to gauge her reaction, deciding whether this trip was just going to be too hard for her.

So she had ruthlessly pushed the sorrow away; she would deal with it later. She didn't want him to have to worry about her right now, especially if the people of this planet were still in danger.

Dolan took a few deep breaths and, in a futile effort to regain a modicum of dignity, straightened his robes as he recovered enough to speak. He beckoned them to follow as he started forward again. "You will see. Doctor, Lady Rose, please come with me."

She exchanged a bemused glance with the Doctor and they followed.

At a purposeful pace, Dolan lead them down the medical complex's seemingly endless, windowless corridors. Struggling slightly to keep up the Doctor's long-legged strides, Rose was struck by how much this place was just like every other hospital she'd seen on Earth or during their travels--labyrinthine halls, painted in soothing colours, hung with innocuous art, dotted with kindly, if somewhat distant staff.

"Healer Jer," Dolan greeted a short, harried-looking man. "May we enter?" He gestured to a sturdy door across from them.

Jer nodded curtly, but held up a hand. "You must stay in the outer chamber. The environment beyond is sterile for the time being. His condition is still quite grave, but I'm pleased to say marginally improved." He put his hand to the door and pushed. It swung easily, and Rose felt her brow wrinkle in puzzlement as she followed Dolan and the Doctor inside.

They found themselves in a small observation room, the far wall dominated by large windows that looked into another room. She couldn't see much of what occupied the far room, her view blocked by the Doctor and Dolan and lighting dim compared to the corridor. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the change. She glanced around the little room they were in. Typical waiting area--couple of stuffed chairs, a low table, tucked in the corner what might be a communications or entertainment terminal-

"Rose." The Doctor's tone was commanding. Yet that one word expressed a profound disbelief, as if in that moment he didn't quite trust his own senses. She turned to look at him. He stared intently at something in the next room, and she felt a tiny prickle of icy fear run through her imagining what could have shaken him so much.

She stepped to his side. "Doctor, what is it?" she asked, aware that her trepidation was obvious. She let her gaze follow his beyond the glass. The sight before her made her gasp. And the rest of the world fell away. "Jack?" Oh, God, it was Jack!

But her logical mind rebelled against what was before her eyes. No way that could be him. Jack was dead. Gone. The man in that bed might have looked like him, had his dark hair, his build, but it couldn't be.

She didn't know she was moving until she was surprised out of the maelstrom of her thoughts by the cold, smooth surface of the window under her hands. Coming back to herself, she looked again.

It was him, really him. Bruised and battered almost beyond recognition. White bandages, stark against his skin in the dim room, nearly covered his entire right side and chest, hinting at the severity of his wounds.

She immediately threw herself into action, seeking entrance. Needing to touch him. To test his flesh under her fingers. Just needing to know that this was not some cruel illusion. That he really was here and alive after all this time.

Spying the door in the wall of glass, Rose ran for it. Healer Jer seemed to sense her intention and she found him positioned between herself and the door, his eyes wide with concern. "No, my lady. You must not disturb the sterile environment. I understand your desire to go to your friend, but realise he is very weak, his injuries severe."

She gaped at the physician for a split-second, trying to comprehend why he was in her way. He was stopping her. Saying she couldn't go in. Keeping her from Jack. No. She neatly side-stepped him, her hand on the door and pulling. The motion was drawn up short as the door refused to yield to her. She pulled again, rattling it against its latch. Locked, she realised.

She yanked hard at the door once more as the Doctor's hands fell at her waist. "Rose." His voice gentle behind her, he was drawing her away, turning her toward him. She could already feel hot tears of frustration forming as she allowed herself to be pulled into the Doctor's strong arms, wrapping hers around his middle under his jacket. Frustration at Jer, at the stupid lock, at suddenly feeling so helpless.

"It's him, isn't it?" She squirmed in the Doctor's embrace, turning her head so she could see Jack's unmoving form through the glass. To watch the gentle rise and fall of his bandaged chest. Asleep. Not dead.

"Yeah," he responded softly. His lips touched her head as his hug tightened briefly. "Dolan?" The Doctor's question was sharp, demanding. He was out for answers.

Rose couldn't bring herself to move, didn't feel she had the strength. And the Doctor didn't seem to be in any hurry to release her, so she clung to him and let the conversation take place around her, taking in what she could, but letting vast clumps of words simply slip away.

"...realise what a shock this is, and I must apologise for the previous confusion. The team found Captain Harkness' belongings in their initial survey and made an assumption," the Chancellor was saying.

The belongings they had buried, thought Rose. When Chancellor Dolan had put the silver casket in her hands, it was understood that there was no body to bury. That the explosion had vaporised all organics in its path, and only the most hardened materials had survived. Now it was clear. There was no body because Jack was right there. So close to her, but still out of reach.

Dolan was still speaking. "...sorry for the distress you've experienced since this morning."

This morning? The sudden tension in the Doctor under her hands caused Rose to look up. His benign smile was forced, and Rose could tell he was trying to keep his reaction in check. It wasn't Dolan's fault. He didn't realise that they had been living with the 'truth' of Jack's death for weeks. Didn't grasp the intricacies of time travel and that it was a bit of luck that they received his message in only weeks, not months or even years. Didn't understand that Jack had been so much more to them both than merely a friend and travelling companion.

"An incorrect assumption, luckily," the Doctor stated, his tone careful. Knowing him as she did, Rose could tell he was blaming himself. Probably thinking he shouldn't have simply accepted what Dolan had told them, that he should have checked himself.

He went on to ask Healer Jer about Jack's condition, and Rose quickly found the discussion was over her head. From what little she understood, there was still a good chance that Jack could die. She shuddered as fear knotted in her chest, but she did not interrupt. How could she go through that again? Lose him again. Distantly she became aware of the Doctor's hands moving over her back. Soothing, calming her after he felt her tremble. Bringing her back to the present.

Rose tried harder to follow the conversation between the Doctor and Healer Jer. The Parmenidian investigators had found Jack at the very edge of the blast area. And, though Jack was pretty banged up--mostly burns and wounds caused by flying debris--Jer wasn't worried at all about the external damage. Dermal regenerators would've patched those up without a trace. The real threat was Jack's radiation exposure during the explosion. His system had been on the verge of complete shutdown when he'd been brought in. In fact, Jer was surprised that Jack had survived long enough to get to the medical facility and for treatment to be started.

"Nanotech?" the Doctor asked. Like the Chula nanogenes in Jack's ship, she mused. Rose glanced to the window again, to Jack, imagining the millions of subatomic robots currently working their way through his body, over his skin, invisible. She made a mental note to ask the Doctor later why the Parmenidian version didn't glow like their Chulan counterparts.

Jer nodded. "Intensive nano-therapy was required to repair the cellular damage caused by the radiation--will take care of his external injuries as well." He gestured to the other room. "Keeping the environment as sterile as possible speeds the process.

"Progress has been good so far. If it continues, it may be possible to move Captain Harkness out of this special care ward as early as tomorrow morning. You'll be allowed to his bedside at that time." He directed the last statement to Rose, and she gave him a small, apologetic smile for her earlier rash behaviour. Jer responded with a look of softhearted understanding as he continued, "The healing process will not be finished, but he will likely be out of danger by then. The nanobots should finish healing him completely by the day after, possibly the next day. We'll keep him sedated until they finish and he will wake with no pain."

Rose watched the Doctor's gaze drift to Jack as he listened. When Jer finished speaking, he let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them again and turned his attention back to the physician, his expression one of gratitude. "Thank you, Healer."

Jer blinked at the acknowledgement. "Thank _you_, Doctor," he said with a slight bow. "Without you, Lady Rose..." Jer looked to her. "...and Captain Harkness, none of us would be here. It is my greatest honour to serve."

The Doctor squirmed a bit and his tight smile indicated he was uncomfortable with this attention. He hated it when people made a fuss over him. She'd figured that out a long time ago. He couldn't stand people fawning over him, had no use for ceremonies or rewards. Often even a simple 'thank you' was considered to be too much. Now to be stuck here where they had been raised to the status of planetary heroes, it was obvious he was feeling exposed.

Apparently recognising the discomfort he had caused in the Doctor, Jer looked a little embarrassed himself. He glanced between them as he spoke, "I will leave you now. I have duties to attend to." He bowed his head slightly to Dolan as he took his leave. "Chancellor."

"Healer," Dolan acknowledged him. "I also have duties to see to," he told them before asking, "Before I go, is there anything I can arrange for you?" Seemingly unbidden, a small, wry smile appeared. "If I thought there was a chance you'd leave your friend's side, I could find a set of rooms for your use."

The Chancellor's perceptiveness brought a smile to her own lips. "Thanks, but we're fine here," Rose replied, offering him her hand.

"All right. Please do not hesitate to call on me if you need anything." And with a squeeze of her hand, Dolan left, and Rose and the Doctor were alone in the tiny room.

oOoOoOo

When Dolan left, Rose had turned to him. "Nothing more we can do?" she'd asked.

His response had been, "Nah. This lot're already doing everything I could for him in the TARDIS. Pretty good at it, too." And they were. He still had seen nothing that he could fault or would improve upon. At that point, he remembered that he'd sighed heavily and told her, "Much as I hate it, 's down to waiting now."

And wait they had, more hours passing than he cared to dwell on.

He rubbed his hands over his thighs and stood up again, needing to move. He'd never been good at waiting. And, much as he tried to let the medical staff perform their functions without his interference, each time he'd ended up, as the attendants and physicians politely put it, underfoot. His curiosity was getting him in trouble again, but at least it provided some distraction from the sitting, the worrying that Jack was going to be all right. The waiting.

The Doctor looked to Rose and found her watching him intently, frowning. He hadn't realised it, but he'd started to pace again, and she was obviously deciding whether or not she should gently, but firmly, tell him to sit. Again. She said nothing, probably figuring it would be a wasted effort. And it probably would be. Now that he thought about it, each time she'd sat him down, he'd returned to prowling the room a few minutes later. A caged tiger, she'd called him.

The corner of his mouth drew up into a humourless half-smile of apology as he crossed to her. She scrubbed her hands over her face and rubbed her eyes as he sat down next to her. He reached for her, and she settled easily into his arms.

She drifted off a short time later in what could hardly be a comfortable position and the Doctor considered waking her. After a moment he decided to leave it for a while. He'd wake her later. She looked so peaceful, and she really did need the rest. He knew, though she'd never said anything, that she hadn't been sleeping well since they last left Parmenides.

He let his eyes drift to Jack in the other room. The fact that Jack was really here, was alive, still had an aura of unreality to it. He longed to touch the other man, to reassure himself. He knew Rose did too. The Doctor identified perfectly with Rose's need to get to Jack when she'd first seen him. He'd felt it too, would have thrown himself at that door just as fiercely if Jer hadn't warned them about Jack's grave condition and the need for a sterile environment.

Just as he was about to wake Rose, Healer Jer's arrival did it for him. The Doctor had to admit he was a bit surprised to see the man. The relative time was quite late and he knew there had been a shift change for the attendants a few hours ago. He really expected another physician would have taken over Jer's rounds by now.

"Doctor. My apologies for waking you, Lady Rose," Jer said as Rose sat up, rubbing her eyes. "But I had to bring you this news before I allowed myself to go home. The last patient reports have been most promising. As a result, I have ordered Captain Harkness to be moved from isolation tomorrow, mid-morning. You will be allowed to his bedside at that time."

A moment later, Jer found his arms full as an ecstatic Rose threw her arms around him in a hug.

Smiling at the man's somewhat overwhelmed look as he tried to disentangle himself from Rose's embrace, the Doctor waited a second and offered the physician his hand. "That's great news. Thank you," he said as Jer took it.

"Barring complications, of course," Jer amended. It was apparent to the Doctor that he was growing increasingly confident in Jack's recovery, but Jer still had to be careful with his wording. Like any other in the medical field, he knew to make no promises. He would relate the facts, could offer hope, but would make no guarantees.

"Naturally."

"Though, honestly, I don't expect any," he added a little conspiratorially. With a last bow to them, Healer Jer wished them a good night and left.

As promised, the attendants arrived at mid-morning to move Jack to his new room. And they were able to touch him at last. The Doctor and Rose were finally given the proof they needed to truly believe that Jack had been returned to them.

oOoOoOo

Rose watched him pace the room; the pattern established within an hour of Jack's move to this room from isolation: far corner to the corridor door and a brief glance into the hall, back to the outside window with a pause by Jack's bed and the monitor readouts, maybe a touch to his hand, back to the far corner where he'd occasionally settle to prop himself against the wall, expression withdrawn, eyes on Jack, for a minute sometimes two, and start again.

The third such circuit within ten minutes drew an exasperated sigh from her. His head whipped around and, looking chastened, he dropped immediately into the closest chair. "Sorry." But he was perched at the edge of the chair, hands on his knees. A bundle of restless energy ready to leap up again. She knew he would only stay there for a few minutes.

The past two days had exhausted her and her supply of Doctor-distracting tactics. She'd already asked him every question she could come up with, making him tell her all about the history of the planet, what every piece of visible equipment in the room did--sometimes twice. She'd finally had an answer to why the Chulan nanogenes glowed and these did not. Got explanations of what was going on and every detail about Jack's treatment.

She talked him down when he took his frustration out on a hapless bystander, stood firm when he did it to her, and accepted him immediately into her arms when he realised what he'd done, not needing the apologies pouring out of him. She smoothed the ruffled feathers of the healers and attendants he left in his wake as they waited for any change, any word. Sat, paced, waited as Jack got gradually better.

And now she was at the end of her rope. She loved him, but she'd had enough.

Rose unfolded herself from her own seat next to Jack and crossed to him. Standing in front of him, she lifted his chin to meet her eyes. "'S all right. You can't help it." An impulsive, impish smile tugged at her. "You're such crap at this sitting around stuff."

"Oi!" he complained in mock indignation.

Her eyes widened slightly in incredulity. "You're gonna deny it?" she exclaimed playfully, grinning at him.

He shrugged. "A token effort."

Rose bent to kiss him lightly on the lips. Straightening, she swatted his shoulder and stepped to the side. He fixed her with a bemused look, and she gestured toward the door. "Get out," she pronounced firmly.

"What?" Bemusement turned to insulted confusion.

"I love you, but you're makin' me crazy." She reached out to cup his face in her hands, smoothing her fingers over his cheeks and creases in his furrowed brow. "An' all this isn't doin' your sanity any good neither. So go. Find something constructive to do for a few hours."

The Doctor still looked dubious about the whole plan. "I'll call the minute anything changes," she promised as she squeezed his shoulder. Finally, he stood and took a few reluctant steps toward the door.

"An' _don't_ get in trouble!"

He grinned cheekily at Rose's warning and came back to wrap his arms around her waist. The Doctor ducked his head, kissing her soundly. "Hey, it's me," he reassured her as he let her go.

A giggle escaped her as she poked lightly at his shoulder. "Exactly," she called after him as he disappeared into the corridor. She felt a contented smile spread across her lips as she crossed back to Jack. Threading her fingers through his, she took her seat again.

Jack was going to be all right. On his last visit, Healer Jer told them that the nanobots had very nearly completed their task and would shut down soon. Once they did, it was simply a matter of waiting until the sedative wore off, and Jack would wake.

Rose used the back of her free hand to cover her yawn. Things were catching up with her. It had been a long two days. Weeks, really, before that, getting used to being without Jack. The bed lonely without him. The Doctor, needing much less sleep than she, only a sporadic visitor.

Though she had slept for a little while the previous night curled up with the Doctor, head pillowed on his lap, it had been too uncomfortable to sleep for long. The setup in the little isolation room's waiting area left a lot to be desired as comfortable sleeping arrangements go. And a small part of her regretted not taking Chancellor Dolan's offer to find her a room.

Now she didn't have to keep the Doctor from picking the place apart or watch him wear a deeper groove in the tile, she decided she could risk closing her eyes for a few minutes.

Some time later, a light squeeze of her hand roused her from a dream. Blinking in confusion, Rose finally registered that she was in her chair beside Jack's bed. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but her intention to merely rest her eyes for a few minutes had obviously gone awry.

Another caress over her fingers caused her to turn in that direction. Her breath caught as she found herself looking into Jack's blue eyes.

Jack was awake! Joy surged through her as she sprang up from her chair to fling her arms around him. "Jack!"

"Morning, sleepyhead." His voice was rough from disuse, and hearing it for the first time in nearly a month when she never thought she'd hear it again opened the floodgates. And her grateful tears started to fall as she kissed him.

When she pulled away, he brushed weakly at her tears on his cheeks and on hers. "Now, don't do that," he drawled sleepily, lightly teasing her, sounding like he did when she reached for him in the night after a bad dream. He looked the same, too: half-lidded eyes and a lazy smile. "I get in trouble with the Doctor when I make you cry. Looks like I've been in a little bit of a bang-up here. Don't need him down on me, too."

That he didn't seem to have intended the innuendo he'd dropped, even this soon after waking, surprised her. For her to catch one that he didn't was a good indicator that he was not quite together yet, that perhaps he was still working off the drug they'd used to keep him asleep. Rose smiled at him, and was just about to point it out and comment that he'd never minded that position before when he asked, "Where is he, by the way?" A trace of concern touched the words. Of course. He'd woken up in a hospital bed. No way for him to know that the Doctor wasn't in the same condition someplace, or dead.

"He's around," she assured him with a caress to his cheek. She dug into her pocket for her mobile. "Had to kick him out. He was driving me mad. I'll get him," she told him.

oOoOoOo

At Rose's call, he'd hurried back to the medical complex at a near run, shouting apologies over his shoulder to the occasional jostled passerby. Jack was awake. Now at the threshold of Jack's room, he paused at the sight in front of him, a fond smile growing on his face as the last scrap of sorrow that had been shrouding him since Jack's 'death' evaporated completely. And he settled against the doorframe to watch for a moment the two he loved more than life itself.

Rose was cuddled up next to Jack on the bed. Jack was sitting up, his smile languid, his attention completely focused on Rose as she animatedly recounted her part in Parmenides' deliverance. Knowing Jack, he'd have immediately asked what he missed. Rose's brilliant smile shone, her eyes alive, as she filled him in, obviously as glad to have Jack back as he was.

He'd missed Jack certainly, missed his humour, his support and compassion, his strong arms around him. Longed for the man who could empathise with him, who understood the way of things and the harsh realities that sometimes faced them. But the Doctor had not even realised how much he missed Rose's brightness and that smile until now. It seemed like an eternity had passed since he'd seen it, Rose's every expression since they thought they'd lost Jack a pale ghost of this radiance.

Her exuberance was infectious and the Doctor found his spirits soaring as he watched. They were whole again.

Rose had called him literally moments after Jack opened his eyes, and it was clear to the Doctor that he was still somewhat affected by the sedative. His expression had a moony, slightly dazed quality about it, and, from the crease in his brow, it was taking a good deal of effort for him to follow Rose's story.

Enough skulking, he decided, and the Doctor made a small noise to catch their attention. Jack's lop-sided smile slowly spread into an unsteady grin when he finally caught sight of him in the doorway.

"Back with us, I see." Stifling his own grin, the Doctor crossed to perch on the edge of the bed beside him. "And not a moment too soon. TARDIS' got a coupla converters that need re-phasing," he told Jack playfully, knowing he was failing to keep his mirth from showing.

Even with his unsuccessful bid to smother his visible amusement, Jack had apparently missed the nuances in his manner. "I just did that!" he managed with as much affront as his semi-drugged state would allow. "They were all fine last time I looked."

A grin broke through. "Yeah, well, been hard on 'em again."

Now Jack'd caught on and teased back. "That's probably a new record. Even for you. How long d'you say I was out?"

The Doctor placed a hand on the other man's chest to lean over him as he answered, "Too long." And he brushed a tender kiss over Jack's lips. "Way too long."

The answer plainly wasn't enough for Jack as he turned to Rose, who simply grinned at him and kissed him no less lovingly. "Yep. What he said. Way too long."

A few hours and a battery of tests later, Jack was deemed fit enough to be released from Healer Jer's care.

In that time, he had recovered his wits as the sedative wore off. Being his charming, flirtatious, and joking self by turns, Jack had also been studying them, the Doctor noticed. No surprise there. The simple fact that, now that Jack was awake, neither he nor Rose had let him out of their sight would be enough to rouse Jack's curiosity.

While Jack's past close calls had always elicited a certain protectiveness from both himself and Rose, they were all aware that this display was well beyond any of those times. Regardless, he found he just couldn't bring himself to be separated from the man yet. Nor could Rose.

Back in the TARDIS, Jack stopped short at the sight of the energy converter laid out on the console. When Rose had phoned, he'd been in the process of pulling it for a spot of maintenance.

Picking up the component, Jack inspected it and cast an incredulous look to him. "You were serious earlier? The converters really do need re-phasing?"

He shrugged. "Did say I'd been hard on 'em."

Putting the part aside, Jack replied, "No way you could've been _that_ hard on 'em in two days." A shade of suspicion crept over his features, and the Doctor knew he was putting together the facts he'd been collecting since he woke up. "What am I missing, Doctor?"

The Doctor exchanged a glance with Rose and she nodded to him, silently taking on the task. The time to tell Jack had come. She moved to Jack's side and took up his hand, stroking it between hers for a moment. "For us, it's been weeks," she said softly. At this, Jack's expression grew even more apprehensive, and he reached out to bring her eyes up to meet his as she finished, "We were told you were dead."

Foreboding changed to astonishment as Jack turned to him. "What?"

"An oversight. The Parmenidians thought you'd been vaporised in the explosion," he explained. "The fact they found some items from your pack near the centre of the blast zone seemed to confirm it."

"I dropped it. Left it behind when I discovered I had a helluva lot less time than we thought before the blast." Jack's words held a stiff measure of disbelief. The news had thrown him as the Doctor thought it might.

He continued, "Evidence was pretty conclusive you were dead, Jack. Wasn't until hours later when they found you that they sent the message to recall us. Message reached us two days ago, relative time. We've been without you for nearly a month."

"Oh, God," was Jack's horrified response as he looked from the Doctor to Rose and pulled her to him, clinging to her as if were he to let go, she'd slip away. As if he could erase those painful weeks for her with his embrace.

She looked up into his face. "We buried you, Jack." Her voice trembled some. Jack buried his face in her blonde hair and hugged her tighter.

"Seeing you in that medical facility was something of a shock, to say the least." The Doctor approached to wrap both of them in his arms. As he did, Jack's arm found its way around his waist and brought him closer. "So glad you're back," he murmured against the other man's temple and pressed a kiss to it.

He closed his eyes and basked in the closeness of his lovers. Jack back with them. The new hope in Rose. The joy in his own hearts.

_Alive._ Together.

The sudden touch of Jack's lips to his brought with it unexpected need. And before he was fully aware, the kiss had deepened, had become mutually demanding.

Rose's hand was moving between them, and Jack parted from the Doctor with a barely audible moan. Her fingers had teased their way under the hem of Jack's shirt and found the skin beneath as her lips traced the contour of his throat. Jack dipped his head and lovingly claimed her mouth.

A few long moments later, their kiss broke and with a breathless "c'mon", Jack led them from the console room.

oOoOoOo

The Doctor looked up from the console at the muffled sound. He'd left Jack in bed curled around Rose, both sleeping peacefully, but now the other man was watching him from the doorway. He was dressed, though his dark hair was still sleep-mussed. The subdued lighting of the console room cast shadows that obscured his features, hiding his expression, so the Doctor could only guess at his thoughts.

"Trouble?"

Jack shook his head in answer and started up the ramp. "Just not tired. Possibly something to do with being asleep for two days." He shrugged. "Thought I'd keep you company, if that's all right?"

The Doctor grinned at his lover and at the familiar question. Jack always asked if the Doctor minded his company those late nights when he wandered into the console room. Had done from the very beginning, since his first weeks when they'd all been struggling to define Captain Jack's role aboard the TARDIS, in their lives, and his presence at times like these was definitely not as welcome as it had become. The Doctor had missed this those weeks Jack was away.

"Getting you all to myself for a while? It's perfect," he said. As Jack settled in the captain's chair to the edge of the platform, the Doctor met his gaze. "Missed having you about."

"That's nice to hear." Jack's smile flashed for a moment before it faded. "Wish you two didn't have to go through that whole experience, though. I mean, weeks thinking I was dead..."

"Yeah." That was not something he wanted to contemplate any longer. They had Jack back, and that was all that mattered. They were whole again. "Well, it's sorted now. Back with us safe and sound," he said, probably a little too brightly, but it brought the smile back to Jack's face anyway.

Jack leaned back lazily in the chair, propping one foot on the console across from him and draping his arms back over the platform's railing, his eyes drifting shut momentarily. The Doctor turned his attention to the section of console in front of him once more, and they shared a companionable silence for a few minutes.

"You buried me." Jack's statement surprised him. The Doctor looked across to his companion as Jack sighed and shook his head in awe. He waited for Jack to continue. If he had to admit it, the Doctor was slightly apprehensive about where the conversation could go from this point. "Can I ask where?"

"Quiescia."

No recognition registered in Jack's expression and he shook his head again. "Never heard of it."

The Doctor straightened and came around the console toward Jack's spot. "It's pretty far from the main space lanes," he explained. "Pretty far from anything, actually."

Jack tipped his head back, seemingly surveying the vaulting ceiling. Sprawled as he was, he was the picture of contentment, though the Doctor knew better. Even in the dim light, he could almost see the weight of Jack's thoughts in the subtle lines of his face. A crooked smirk eventually appeared on Jack's lips as if he were laughing at himself. "Would you think it was morbid of me to ask to go there?" he asked finally.

"Nah," the Doctor said, and fixed him with a pointed look, "but I'd ask why you wanted to."

Drawing in his limbs, Jack leaned forward in his seat and shrugged. He smiled and replied airily, "Well, you know, check out the real estate. See if I like the neighbours. From your description, doesn't sound like there's much of a nightlife." Jack appeared pleased when his remark drew a quick, reflexive smirk out of the Doctor. But, after a moment, he sobered slightly. "I was just thinking that with what happened...with the lifestyle we have, maybe we should settle some of these things ahead of time." He absently rubbed a thumb over the palm of his hand. "Rose told me you chose the place..."

Jack looked away, appearing discomfited. "I don't know. Maybe it _is_ morbid curiosity." The Doctor reached out and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. At his touch, Jack turned back to him. He could sense Jack had more to say, so he stayed silent, waiting for the other man to collect his thoughts. "Back at the Time Agency, I knew one or two guys who looked up when they were gonna die. Always thought that'd be kinda self-defeating somehow--not to mention plain macabre." Fleeting disgust passed over Jack's expression.

"Don't get me wrong, death's not something that I've ever been afraid of--not something I've necessarily tried to court. But then, I don't try to court trouble either," he added, sounding a touch rueful. "Just never felt it was something to dwell on, you know. And now that I've found you and Rose...come to love you..." There was a weight to the phrase as Jack spoke it. Though they both knew that was the bond between them, the actual words often went unspoken. "I begin to think there might be a sense of peace in at least knowing where I'll end up."

The Doctor moved to tell him that there were no guarantees in life. But Jack stopped him by laying his warm fingers on the Doctor's chest.

"I know what you're going to say. Plans don't always go as expected. For us, especially. This time you didn't even have a body to bury." He sighed heavily. "I'm not making sense, am I?"

The Doctor slid his hand to the other man's neck and brushed a kiss to his brow. He did understand some of what he was trying to say, the concern Jack was trying to express. He'd do what Jack had asked. Moving to the console, he said, "I'll show you what you want to see."

A very few minutes later, he and Jack stepped from the TARDIS onto the pebbled blue plain. He watched Jack as he scanned the rough land around them, his eyes lingering interestedly on the crater nearby.

"Why here?" Jack asked, unknowingly echoing the question Rose had asked when they buried the little silver casket. An eternity ago. Hard to believe that in actuality, less than a month had passed.

He hadn't found it within himself to answer when she had asked it, wanting to shield her from any more pain. Maybe it was wrong, but he knew he was less protective of Jack in these matters, exposing him to harsh realities that he carefully concealed from Rose.

He looked into Jack's blue eyes. "I wanted you with me."

A scant moment passed, and those eyes went wide with understanding. "You end up here?" He studied the fiercely beautiful landscape with renewed attentiveness, his gaze upon the crater once again.

"Do you die here?" The question was quiet, almost whispered, and obvious. The jagged hole in the ground was plainly caused by an explosion of some kind. The conclusion natural.

"No." Jack no doubt had a barrage of questions warring for precedence within him. The Doctor wondered which would surface first.

"But you know how you get here, don't you?" His tone was careful, probably worried that he'd be shut out if his inquiry strayed too far into painful territory.

A well-worn sense of remorse rose within him that Jack should feel he had to tiptoe around his emotions. But he was well aware that it was not without good reason that the other man, and Rose, did so. That his companions had taken the brunt of his damaged psyche for so long, too many times finding they'd stumbled unwittingly into a minefield after asking an innocent question, that they'd learned to be wary.

He placed his hand on Jack's arm to reassure him that he appreciated the other man's concern for his feelings. "Yeah." He was unsure as to how, or whether, to continue.

Whether to tell Jack that he himself was the one who brought his future self here. That, ultimately, his body would be interred in this planet's past by his eighth incarnation. Jack thought it was macabre to know your own death date. What would he think of this?

But Jack seemed to understand his reluctance. "It's not us, is it? Not Rose or me...that lays you to rest here."

"No." He decided against elaborating further if Jack didn't ask.

He didn't. "You outlive us."

"Or I die with you," the Doctor pointed out. A potentiality Jack hadn't considered, or hadn't wanted to consider, to judge from his now grim expression. Other possibilities existed, but the Doctor wouldn't voice them. Death was but one way his companions left him.

A long second of silence stretched between them, the heavy atmosphere making the effect absolute, stifling.

Finally, the pricking of his conscience made him break the silence. Jack needed know so he didn't stumble into it unexpectedly. "Jack, Rose doesn't know the significance of this place. She asked..." He paused and Jack's gaze met his. "I couldn't tell her before. Not when she'd lost you."

The look Jack was giving him was filled with compassion and understanding. Were their positions reversed, he didn't doubt that Jack would have done the same. Also would've chosen to shield her during that fragile time.

"But you should now. She should know, Doctor," Jack said softly. "Now that I'm back, you should tell her what you've told me." A graceful transition from Rose's protector to her advocate. As always, the bridge between himself and Rose in so many ways.

The Doctor considered Jack's advice. Maybe she should know. Jack was back with them and safe. The knowledge would not destroy her as it might have before. Inwardly, he resolved to find a quiet moment, soon, to reveal some of these things to Rose. "I'll tell her," he promised.

Satisfied, Jack headed toward the TARDIS. Before he entered, he seemed to think better of it and turned back to place a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "You did right to choose here for me. And if it comes to it again, I want you to know this is where I want to be."

He said nothing, but a solemn nod acted as his vow. He followed Jack through the doors.

A brief time later, the TARDIS disappeared from the planet's surface.

_Another hundred million nights passed on Quiescia. Nothing changed, and no one else came._(1)

END

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(1) Quoted from the BBC novel 'Alien Bodies' by Lawrence Miles.


End file.
